Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Automation 2015, 5(3B): 47-54

DOI: 10.5923/c.jmea.201502.10

Study of Aerofoil Design Parameters for

Low Speed Wind Tunnel
Alister Gleason Dsouza*, Joel I. Concessao, Jaimon Quadros

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Sahyadri College of Engineering & Management, India

Abstract Low speed wind tunnel testing has evolved over the last century and has become a cornerstone in the
development of aviation vehicles. Study of the effects of aerodynamics and its influence are substantial in the design of
aircrafts and much fluid effect based engineering machines. The forces involved in the dynamic interactions of fluids and
solids have only begun to be lifted, therefore the study of wind behavior is necessary to design large Airplanes. This paper
provides an overview of the design parameters of a low speed wind tunnel and then the study of coefficient of lift (CL) and
coefficient of drag (CD) for different length to diameter (L/D) ratios of a NACA 4412 aerofoil section shaped as per the
NACA standards of Aerofoil design. It was observed through flow visualization test that flow remained unseparated
throughout the test section for 70% of its characteristic dimension i.e. the breadth or height of the test section in this case. A
conditioning circuit was also developed in order to record the (CL) and (CD) values which gave smooth output data values.
The LM324 IC was used for noise and temperature output for good stability for dynamic data.
Keywords Coefficient of lift, Coefficient of drag, L/D ratio, Reynolds number, Laminar flow

1. Introduction
Low speed wind tunnel testing has evolved over the last
century and has become a cornerstone in the development of
aviation vehicles. Late in the 1970s, multiple groups of
experts predicted that the need for aerodynamic experiments,
particularly in the subsonic region of airflow, would rapidly
disappear as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) would
take over. Though the multiple formidable improvements in
CFD prevail today and computer power continues to evolve,
our mathematical models are still far for being a perfect
analysis of an aircraft. The shapes of airplanes are
determined by considerations of aerodynamics with varying
degrees of attention to performance, agility, stealth,
procurement cost, operational cost, time to delivery and
other aspect the customer may require for intended missions.
A primary tool of experimental aerodynamics is the wind
tunnel. The productive and proper use of experimental
investigations in general wind tunnels in particular requires
applications of aerodynamic theory and computational
methods in the planning off facilities, planning of
experiments and the interpretation of resulting data. The
fundamental principles from which the equations used to
model low-speed aerodynamic flows are derived and are
only three in number. These are (1) Mass is conserved, (2)
* Corresponding author:
alisterdsouza14@gmail.com (Alister Gleason Dsouza)
Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/jmea
Copyright 2015 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved
force and motion are related by Newtons second law, and (3)
energy exchanges are governed by First Law of
Thermodynamics. In addition to these three principles,
certain fluid properties and their variations with pressure and
temperature must be described mathematically with
sufficient accuracy for each application. The objective of this
paper is to study the aerodynamic aspects of designing a
subsonic Wind Tunnel and to study the existing aerofoil
design to understand what parameters affect the lift and drag
coefficients. The available literatures that deal with the
design of wind tunnel or those components are illustrated
firstly. Bradshaw and Mehta, 1979, presented design guide
lines for the main components of a wind tunnel, the fan, wide
angle diffuser, settling chamber, contraction, screens, honey
combs and exit diffuser for small low speed wind tunnels.
Milan Valajinac, 1970 summarized the design, construction
and calibration of a subsonic wind tunnel. Raikan 2001, a
subsonic wind tunnel design of closed circuit type for a range
of Mach No. in the test section up to 0.7 has been carried out
and a mathematical models describe the flow in each
component of the wind tunnel are made. The comparisons
between the results obtained from their design and the
literature were done and they showed that a good agreement
exist with these results. NACA 4412 aerofoil is used to study
the parameters of design and flow parameters with reference
to lift and drag. J. Colman 2010 investigated an airfoil, with
and without the Gurney mini-flaps, immersed in a low
Reynolds number turbulent flow. Lift and drag coefficients
were calculated for the plain wing and for the wing with
mini-flaps of 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% height of the chord
48 Alister Gleason Dsouza et al.: Study of Aerofoil Design Parameters for Low Speed Wind Tunnel

and plotted as a function of the angle of attack. The
experimental data, including the power density spectrum of
the instantaneous longitudinal and vertical velocities and
load, show that the Gurney mini-flap acts enhancing the lift
coefficient of the airfoil coupled with an increased drag,
primarily due to the particular mini-flaps wake structure.
2. Wind Tunnel Design
The first step in the design of a wind tunnel is to determine
the size and shape of the test section based on the intended
uses of the facility. A major part of the following discussions
address tunnels for which the primary use is vehicle and
vehicle component testing, since many tunnels are built for
this purpose. It is also assumed that a major part of the testing
will be force testing, where information is sought for
performance, fuel efficiency, stability or control of a vehicle
that may be an aircraft, an automobile, a submarine or
possibly others. The cross sectional area of the test section
basically determines the overall size of the facility. The test
section size, speed and design will determine the required
power. The size of the facility will be the primary factor in
determining the structural or shell costs, and the power and
operating hours will determine the energy portion of the
operational cost. The overall aerodynamic objective for most
wind tunnels is to obtain a flow in the test section that is near
as possible to a parallel steady flow with uniform speed
throughout the test section. Perfection is not possible so
every design is bounded by constraints that involve
minimum cost, available space, available time and
knowledge. It is almost always desired to obtain the largest
size of the test section and the highest speed for the available
funds. High speed and large size are of course competing
demands. Aero acoustic evaluations and experiments have
become of great importance in low-speed aerodynamics for a
number of applications. The requirement for a facility to be
useful Aero acoustic facility is the background noise level
should be sufficiently low. However, now there are many
tunnels that have been modified for various degrees to
reduce the background noise. It is also the case that more
sophisticated measurement techniques and instrumentation
are making it possible to obtain useful acoustic
measurements in environments with higher background
noise.
the exclusion of characteristic length). Much low-speed
testing involves aircraft takeoff and landing configurations
where the Mach number is typically in the 0.15-0.3 range. A
primary decision is the choice of the minimum acceptable
value of Reynolds number. Because much of the low-speed
testing is at high lift conditions, the effect of Reynolds
number on aerofoils at high lift must be considered.
Maximum lift and lift curve shape near stall for single
element airfoils vary considerably with Reynolds number up
to at least one million. For multi-element airfoils this range is
much greater. If the Mach number is taken as 0.2, the tunnel
velocity is about 67m/s. For this speed the unit Reynolds
number is a little less than 458,000m-1.
ii) Open or Closed Return
Another basic design consideration is whether the tunnel
will be of a return or non-return type. Almost all of the small
research tunnels are of the non-return type, usually because
of the lower construction costs. Power consumption for such
tunnels is usually not a significant factor in overall cost.
Although there exist some larger tunnels of non-return
design, most of the large tunnels are of the return type the
majority being single return.
2.1. Wind Tunnel Component Energy Losses
The case of wind tunnel flow is considered to be the case
of flow through pipes. Hence, there are multiple losses
occurring due to friction at the boundaries. This resulting
loss of pressure is termed as pressure loss and it is the
excess pressure that is required to be raised by the fan to
maintain the required flow. Pressure drop is given by:
P LV 2
=f
2Dh
Where Dh is known as the Hydraulic Diameter and is
computed by,
A
Dh = 2
is the perimeter, A is the Area of cross-section of the
flow section. The term f is the friction factor and is
computed by (Colebrook Equation):
1 2.51
= 2.0 log D +
f 3.7 R e f

The basic considerations are:
i) Unit Reynolds Number
The central issue in the sizing of a low- speed wind tunnel
will be the achievable Reynolds number for the models that
can be accommodated. We will choose a Mach number of
0.3 as the upper limit of Mach number for the free stream
beyond which we may be concerned about the effects of
Mach number on a typical study. Considering sea level
standard atmospheric conditions, the maximum for V will be
~100 m/sec, and the unit Reynolds number will be ~6.49
105 m-1 (Note that the unit for Reynolds number represents
Where is the average height of surface roughness.
Since the Colebrooks equation is implicit in f f , the
determination of the friction factor requires iteration. Since
the friction factor is minimum for smooth pipes but not
equal to zero (due to the no slip condition) and increases
with roughness, the Colebrook Equation reduces to Prandtl
Equation and is expressed as,
f = [2log10 R e f 0.8]2
This equation is valid for turbulent flows where
4000 R e 108 . Another general principle used to
calculate velocities of flow in various sections is the
 Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Automation 2015, 5(3B): 47-54
principle of continuity of flow.
Q = A1 V1 = A2 V2 = C
2.2. Test Section
The test sections used include shapes like round, elliptical,
square, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, and rectangular
with filleted corners, flat ceiling and floor with half round
ends. The cost and power are directly determined by the
cross-sectional area and length of the sections. The shape of
this test section should be based on the utility and
considerations of the aerodynamics of the models to be
tested. As the air proceeds along the test section, the
boundary layer thickens which reduces the effective area of
the jet from that of the geometric dimensions and causes an
increase in the flow speed outside the wall boundary layers.
If the geometric area is constant, the speed increases in turn
produces a drop in local static pressure, tending to draw the
model downstream. In many tunnels fillets are carried
through the test section to prevent boundary layer growth in
the corners of the test section and down the diffuser tapering
out at the end of the diffuser. The length of the test section in
tunnels designed with aeronautical work as the primary focus
vary from one to two times the major dimension of the
section. The power losses in the test section are sizable, as
well be seen shortly owing to the high speed; thus power can
be saved by keeping it short. However, contractions do not
deliver a uniform velocity distribution to the beginning of the
test section. Therefore a constant- area duct before the test
section is usually employed. A practical detail in the test
section design is the installation of sufficient windows for
viewing the model. In the course of testing it will become
necessary to see all parts of the model: top, sides, bottom and
as much of the front as is reasonably practical.
2.3. Diffusers
Figure 1. Diffuser Section
The diffuser of a return wind tunnel typically extends from
the downstream of the test section to the third corner of the
tunnel. It is divided into two parts by the tunnel fan and the
power losses at any point in the tunnel are expected to vary
as the speed is cubed. The purpose of the diffuser is to reduce
the speed with as little energy loss as possible and also the
minimum energy loss corresponds to maximum pressure
recovery. Diffusers are sensitive to design errors that may
cause either intermittent separation or steady separation
which can be hard to localize but can cause vibrations,
oscillating fan loading, oscillations in the test section
velocities, and increased losses in the tunnel downstream of
49
their origin. The primary parameters for a diffuser are the
equivalent conical expansion angle and the area ratio.
Consider a conical diffuser with a radius R 1 at the entrance,
radius R 2 at the exit, and L as indicated in figure.
Commonly used cross sections are rectangular or nearly
rectangular with reasons closely propelling the reasons given
for choosing test sections with the plain walls. The
equivalent conical angle is defined as follows. Let R1 be one
half the entrance hydraulic diameter D1 . Let R 2 be one-half
A
the exit diameter D2 and AR be 2 . Then the equivalent
A1
conical expansion angle is given by
e = arctan(
R 2 R 1
)
L
e = arctan(
1 A R 1
)
2 L/D 1
Diffusers are common elements in fluid flow devices, and
in any applications the equivalent cone angle can be quite
large. Relatively large angles are possible for the case of
uniform flow entering the upstream end of the diffuser. If a
very long 2.50 diffuser is used to obtain a large contraction
ratio, there is a danger of separation. Therefore, the total
tends to be limited to area ratios of 5:1 or 6:1, half of the area
ratio in each half of the diffuser. The expansion loss is more
difficult and is obtained presently only by experimental
correlation. The expansion loss coefficient is represented as
a product of two factors. One factor is a function of the
equivalent conical angle and the other is a function of
diffuser area ratio. The result is
AR 1 2
K ex = K e ( )
AR
The factor K e depends significantly on the diffuser cross
sectional shape. The most efficient divergence is about 5.
2.4. Contraction Cone
The contraction cone or nozzle takes the flow from the
settling chamber to the test section while increasing the
average speed by factors up to 20 or more, although typical
values are in the range of 6-10. The nozzle is in fact never
conical in shape and comprises of geometry of curves. The
application of Bernoullis equation and mass conservation in
a one dimensional sense indicates a continuously falling
pressure as the flow moves from the entrance to the exit of
the nozzle. A characteristic feature of the velocity
distribution was a velocity peak on the centerline of the
constant area inlet that persists well into the nozzle, where
the velocity then decreases, ending in a centerline velocity
deficit. This deficit continues for about one radius beyond
the nozzle exit. This leads to a cup shaped velocity profile in
the constant area exit duct. The nozzle exit length is sensitive
to the required length in the test section for a uniform
velocity profile. For an area ratio of 8 the inlet section length
varied from 0.15 to 1.00 times the inlet radius, while the test
section settling length varied from 1.5 to 0.5 the exit radius.
It is desirable to keep the length of the nozzle as short as
possible, the nozzle being defined as the sum of the settling
50 Alister Gleason Dsouza et al.: Study of Aerofoil Design Parameters for Low Speed Wind Tunnel
chamber length plus the nozzle plus the settling length of the
exit section.
2.5. Flow Straightener
The stagnation chamber located just before the contraction
cone and is the part of the wind tunnel circuit that has the
largest cross section area. This part has a major influence on
the flow quality in the test section. Because of the high local
pressure drop generated by flow improving devices it is
important to position them in the location with the lowest
flow speed and thereby minimize their contribution to the
total pressure drop of the wind-tunnel circuit.
Figure 2. Flow straightener a) circular; b) square; c) hexagonal
Flow straightener is elements used to smoothen and
straighten the turbulent and irregular flow that is sucked in
by the wind tunnel. They are usually straightening sections
which are squares, rectangles hexagons and circles. The
extend up to 6 inches or so including screens separated by
certain distances which make the streamline even smoother
and finer. The screens are very effective in breaking up
larger eddies and acts primarily to reduce mean
non-uniformities and fluctuations of the stream wise
component. The screens also reduce cross flow components
but less effectively than honeycombs or squares. Hence, the
combination of a straightener and screens provide, in a
natural way, a good overall flow quality improvement. We
have utilized wood plies and cut them into 36 x 3 sections
and further cut slots of 2 cm. About 52 strips like that and we
locked cum glued them to make the straightener structure
and fitted it into the stagnation zone with rubber adhesive.
DRIVE SYSTEM: The fan is located downstream the
diffuser. The fan is positioned in a circular casing made of
MS sheet. Some expansion is also taking place in the
wind-tunnel with expanding diffuser place, located in the
silencers to keep the total wind-tunnel circuit length to a
minimum. In the center of the silencers, cylinder shaped
bodies made of perforated steel plate and filled with acoustic
insulation material are mounted. In the upstream silencer the
cylinder has a constant diameter and its nose is shaped as half
an Ellipsoid. The central body in the downstream silencer is
shaped as a cone to avoid flow separation. The central bodies
improve the flow quality both upstream and downstream of
the fan. They also improve the noise reduction capability of
the silencers. The motor delivers 2HP of power, being a 3
phase induction type rated for 2880rpm. It is mounted behind
the fan coupled through pulleys stepping down the speed to
1960rpm.The fan diameter is 24 and the hub diameter is 4.
The fan has six blades with an angle of attack of 30. With this
angle of attack and an empty test section the fan efficiency is
close to its maximum value of 75%. The blades do not enter
the stall region even at considerably higher loads, making
sure that the wind-tunnel efficiency and flow quality stays
intact during the operation of the most common kinds of
experiments. The use of axial fans can, however, create some
flow quality problems, if they are subjected to very high
loads, but even with more moderate loads they can create a
low frequency pulsating variation of the stream wise flow
component. In the present tunnel this is essentially, but not
completely, avoided by a relatively low fan blade load.
3. Wind Tunnel Construction
The structural loading on the various sections of a low
speed wind tunnel are usually less critical than the strength
needed to avoid vibrations, a significant exception being the
assurance that the drive motor will stay in place should it lose
one-half of its blades. The rest of the tunnel may be
examined to withstand the maximum stagnation pressure
with a safety factor of perhaps 4.0. Since vibration of parts of
the wind tunnel contributes to noise, discomfort of the tunnel
crew and possible fatigue failures and usually adds to the
turbulence in the wind stream, it is a goof practice to have the
natural frequencies of all tunnel part well above any exciting
frequencies. At this time, for the small tunnels at least, flat
panels can be checked with a simple shaker motor, and by
means of a vibrometer the natural frequencies can be
determined. Any speed below the fan rpm should be
increased by stiffening the part.
All types of materials are used for tunnel construction:
wood, plywood, thin metal, heavy metal, cast concrete,
granite and plastics. Even though there is general
agreement that low speed wind tunnels require no cooling,
heavy running in the summertime will usually make the
tunnel operators wish they had some. Cooler outside air can
be blown into the tunnel and some large tunnels spray water
over the outside to cool the tunnel. Fan blades for low speed
tunnels are frequently made of wood, although modified
with aircraft propellers are sometimes used with trailing edge
flaps to provide a uniform pressure rise across the fan disk.
Tunnels that use short span, large chord blades have used
fiberglass and more recently composite materials such as
carbon fiber reinforced epoxies.
For small research and instruction tunnels plywood is
possibly the best material. Particle board is another material
used: however, it is not stiff as plywood and can develop a
sag when supported. A smooth surface finish is difficult to
patch. With wood holes and discontinuities can easily be
patched. The tunnel is often made in sections that bolt
together. To prevent leaks, surgical tubing can be used as a
gasket. The fan area can be metal, as it is easy to roll up
round sections. A door in the floor in the plane of the fan will
be necessary so that blades may be taken out of their hubs
and replaced.
 Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Automation 2015, 5(3B): 47-54
Figure 3. Experimental set up comprising of Wind tunnel for conducting experiments
4. Aerofoil Design
Aerofoil design is a major fact of aerodynamics. Various
aerofoils serve different flight regimes. Asymmetric
aerofoils can generate lift at zero angle of attack, while
symmetric aerofoil may better suit frequent inverted flight as
in an aerobatic airplane. For the analysis of aerofoil models
for this project we have made a study on NACA aerofoil.
They are aerofoil shapes of aircraft wings developed by the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The
shape of the NACA aerofoil were described using a series of
digits following the word NACA. The parameters in the
numerical code can be entered into equations to precisely
generate the cross- section of the aerofoil and calculate its
properties. The Aerofoil was modeled in CATIA, industrial
software, where all the points of aerofoil 4412 were
individually plotted and successfully modeled for a light
wood material in order to obtain their respective center of
gravities. Thin sheets of raw ply wood where cut to
rectangles of suitable dimension and stacked and glued
together. Thin sheets of raw ply wood where cut to
rectangles of suitable dimension and stacked and glued
together. These stacks were compressed for over a night. The
printout of the aerofoil profile was then glued to one side of
the stacks and carved. In order to clear out the irregularities,
metallic paste was applied on to the surfaces and smoothened
with emery paper. The final coating to obtain clean surface
was done with the calcium carbonate paste and was allowed
to dry. Holes were drilled onto the center of gravity up to a
certain distance for the mount and hooks
Figure 4. Aerofoil modeled in CATIA, industrial software
51
5. Aerodynamics of the Wind Tunnel
The aerodynamic aspects of the wind tunnels mainly
circumscribe the maintenance of the hydrodynamic
boundary layer and to make sure that the losses or stagnation
points th roughout the wind tunnel are at their least effects.
Certain details how hydrodynamic boundary layer can
remain unseparated in the tunnel is by proper diffuser
installation after the test section. Suitable diffuser angle
should be taken into account for the right size of test section.
The angle range can vary from 3 to 50, but the safe angle
chosen for the test section of 12x12 cross section was 3.80
which has yielded satisfactory results. Losses are of many
kinds, apart from the major and minor losses in pipe flows.
Since there is a suction unit, (the fan) losses can be extreme
at various zones of the wind tunnels. Sharp corners, holes
and leakages are the adversaries of wind tunnel testing.
Another aspect that promotes the maintenance of the
hydrodynamic boundary layer is the proper design and
manufacture of the settling chamber parallel to the flow, the
flow was in streams, hence determining the low turbulence in
the tunnel. These tests were clear enough to understand the
stability of the boundary layer cum flow straightener. A
simple test of using tufts (strands of threads) in the tunnel
would give a brief idea. When the tufts were placed and its
separation points at different locations. The shapes of
different parts of the wind tunnel i.e. the contraction cone,
test section and diffuser section clearly proves the
application of Bernoullis principle, leading to the inverse
relation of velocity and pressure. Results from ANSYS
FLUENT give an indication of approval with design as
shown.
6. Tests and Results
Flow visualization revealed the idea of how lift and drag
forces vary at different angles of attack with the peculiar
behavior of smoke over the surface of the aerofoil. NACA
52 Alister Gleason Dsouza et al.: Study of Aerofoil Design Parameters for Low Speed Wind Tunnel
4412 aerofoil was tested for constant wind speed of 35m/s
and varying the angles of attack, following observations
were recorded. It is visible that coefficient of lift increases
for positive angles of attack and becomes maximum at 35o.
This gives a clear indication coefficient of lift (Cl), becomes
maximum at 35, and on further increase of angle of attack,
starts to decrease and approaches a negative domain after 45.
At this state the aerofoil experiences zero lift and attains
stall condition. An aircraft experiencing this state will fall
freely due to gravity. Drag coefficient on the other hand
decreases with the increase of angles of attack until a point
where the aerofoil is on the verge of attaining stall
condition, and then slowly increases for higher tilts of the
aerofoil.
In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio, or L/D ratio, is the
amount of lift generated by a wing or vehicle, divided by
the drag it creates by moving through the air. A higher or
more favorable L/D ratio is typically one of the major goals
in aircraft design; since a particular aircraft's required lift is
set by its weight, delivering that lift with lower drag leads
directly to better fuel economy, climb performance, and
glide ratio. calculating speed and estimating suitable weight
of the aircraft we can clearly understand the correlation of lift
and drag forces. The values of coefficients of lift and drag
obtained play a crucial role in scaling aircraft models. The
NACA 4412 Aerofoil had 20cms chord length and 5 thick.
This aerofoil was affected by a range of lift and drag forces
for a wind speed of 35m/s, as shown in table. Considering
any value of Coefficient of lift and entering the
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
-32-24-16 -8 0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56
-0.05
Cl
-0.1 Cl
-0.15
-0.2
-0.25
-0.3
-0.35
Angle of Attack ( deg)
(a)
Figure 5. Variation of a) Co-efficient of Lift; b) Co-efficient of Drag with respect to angles of attack
specifications of the aerofoil in the expression,
1
F l = Cl AV 2
2
We will be able to calculate either of the values as per
required for suitable Reynolds number. In order to scale this
aerofoil model to that of the actual size of an Ultra-light low
powered plane, we substitute the value of coefficient of lift
and enter the values of density, area of cross section and a
suitable wind speed, keeping the proper limits of Reynolds
Number within standards, the actual lift for the aircraft can
be determined. It works the same way for drag forces as well.
This is the specialty of Similarities and the use of
dimensional analysis. The temperature sensor gave us linear
outputs with small variations above and below the room
temperature proving the existence of a small static
temperature change at different stages while testing an
aerofoil. The average noise value obtained from inside the
test section considering full load gave us a reading of 93dB
which is a safe level as per wind tunnels are considered.
Better noise reduction would have been possible if the tunnel
sections where made circular. The designed and tested
aerofoil was the NACA 4412. Based on our results, we can
conclude that the aerofoil is an excellent choice for low
powered aircrafts usually mono seat or dual seat. The
aerofoil has good lift ratios at low velocities ranging between
30m/s to 45m/s and improves at higher velocities. The
aerofoil has its highest Lift to drag ratio at an angle of attack
of 60.
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.1
Cd
0.08
0.06 Cd
0.04
0.02
0
-32-24-16 -8 0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56
Angle of Attack ( deg)
(b)
 Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Automation 2015, 5(3B): 47-54 53

10 10
8 8
6 6
4 4
2 2
0 0 LIFT
-2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
-30 -20 -10 -32-24-16-2
-8 0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 DRAG
L/D

-4 -4 Cd
L/D Cl
-6 -6
L/D
-8 -8
-10 -10
-12 -12
-14 -14
-16 -16
-18 -18
Angle of Attack ( deg) Angle of Attack ( deg)
(c) (d)
Figure 6. Variation of c) Length to Daimeter (L/D) ratio; d) Combination of all aerodynamic parameters with respect to angles of attack

Table 1. Experimental values for Co-efficient of Lift and Drag for different angles of attack

Angle Lift Force Drag Force CD CL

L/D
() Degrees (N) (N)
-25 -8.54 2.89 0.0995 -0.294 -2.955
-20 -6.69 2.56 0.0882 -0.230 -2.613
-15 -6.89 1.36 0.0468 -0.237 -5.066
-10 -4.84 0.29 0.0099 -0.167 -16.6897
-5 -0.71 0.25 0.0086 -0.024 -2.84
0 0.21 0.19 0.0065 0.007 1.105
5 1.78 0.22 0.0075 0.061 8.090
10 2.23 0.45 0.0154 0.076 4.955
15 3.27 2.68 0.0925 0.112 1.220
20 1.93 3.79 0.1306 0.0664 0.509
25 3.57 3.52 0.1217 0.1229 1.0145
30 4.1 3.57 0.1229 0.1414 1.1484
35 5.1 3.62 0.1241 0.1756 1.408
40 3.98 3.78 0.1302 0.137 1.052
45 1.33 3.84 0.1322 0.0458 0.346
50 -2.35 4.41 0.1519 -0.084 -0.532

7. Conclusions throughout the test section at 70% of its characteristic

The project was an attempt to achieve two major
objectives; the first being the design and construction of the
wind tunnel and the second being study on aerofoil. Hence
the project was proposed in two parts. The main test for
determining the stability of a wind tunnel is the test to see the
stability of the hydrodynamic boundary layer throughout the
test section. We have conducted flow visualization test for
the airfoil and during the test and flow remained unseparated
dimension (the breadth or height of the test section in this
case). When we further moved to the flow visualization of
the aerofoil, a smooth visible flow separation was observed.
In addition to the stability of the boundary layer, the smoke
test also shows, the efficiency of the flow straightener
section. The signal amplifier and conditioning circuits were
designed to amplify load cells, microphone and temperature
sensor. To produce a very linear amplification of the small
voltages produced by the strain gauge load cells, TL082 IC
54 Alister Gleason Dsouza et al.: Study of Aerofoil Design Parameters for Low Speed Wind Tunnel
from Texas Instruments was chosen. A simple low-pass filter [3]
was used with a moderate capacitance to output stable values.
Since immediate response was not a requirement, the
capacitance value was of the utmost importance. The [4]
working of this amplification and conditioning circuit was
evident in the smooth data output values. The LM324 IC was
used for noise and temperature output for its good stability [5]
for dynamic data. The results obtained from the aerofoil are
satisfactory with results co-relating to Bernoullis theory and
[6]
general wing principles with maximum Lift to drag ratio in
excess of 8 at 6.
[7]
[8]
REFERENCES
[9]
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[2] Metha, R. D., The Aerodynamic Design of Blower Tunnels
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1977.
John Rajadas, Bradley Rogers, Design, Fabrication and
Testing of a Low speed Wind Tunnel Laboratory, AC
2007-1191.
Bradshaw P. and Mehta R. D., Design Rules for Small Wind
Tunnels, Aeronautical Journal, November 1979, p.p.
443-449.
Frank, P. B., Handbook Selection, Application and Design,
McGraw-Hill, 1997.
Milan Vilaginac, Design, Construction and Evaluation of a
Subsonic Wind Tunnel, M.Sc. thesis, MIT, June 1970.
Pop a. and Harper j. j., Low Speed Wind Tunnel Testing,
McGraw-Hill, 1986.
R. Allan Wallis, Axial Flow Fan and Ducts, John Wiley and
sons, 1983.
Raikan S. Dawas, Proposal for Subsonic Wind Tunnel
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